Ice Augers - Makin' Holes

One Auger, Two Auger, Old Auger, New Auger.

Maybe I am getting old and stuck in my ways, but I have an old Eskimo 8" gas powered auger that my dad gave to me when he got a little too old to hang on to it effectively. I keep the blades sharp, careful to how it sits, and clean the carb every couple of years and do some general maintenance. It has served me well for a long time.

I hopped online today to just "see what's out there". I know most of the folks on the ice are clamoring after a 10" auger. Apparently they think there will be fish that won't fit through an eight inch hole. I guess we can all dream, and perhaps some of those bass fill a hole. Otherwise the ten inch hole DOES take longer to ice over.

Well Jiffy is now turning out propane powered augers!! This was all new to me. The idea, at first, seemed weird, then genius.  Clean burning, no mixing gas, transport is a snap, no more spilled gas in the bottom of the jetsled. This is something you could just pop right in the back seat of your car when you are done if you had no truck, and it would stink less than your fish.

I will have my eyes on the ice this winter to see who has one. I am anxious to see one in action. The igloo name is pretty solid, has been around for quite some time, and generally leads the way when it comes to making a hole in the ice.

My old Ice auger still has many good hours left in it, so I'm not really ready to put it up for sale just yet, but it's innovations like this that make it tempting.

If anyone has one of these, or has used one, I would be interested in hearing about it. leave a post below or on fishin' hole  facebook page.

Below are some links to more detail on these and other models.
 

Jet Sleds - a must have?

A fisherman's best friend

I can't hardly imagine a day on the ice without our faithful utility sled. Buckets, bait, auger, cooler, stove, rods, traps, there are so many things an ice fisherman wants to bring on the ice, a day without one of these beauties is a day spent trudging gear back and forth from the truck. In Maine, these utility sleds start getting scarce and next to impossible to find as fall wears into winter.
I never would have thought it, but they can be found on Amazon and shipped right to your door. (links to them attached below). Now add to my delight of finding them in camo!

If you will be taking the four wheeler or snow sled on the ice, do yourself a favor and pick up the jetsled hitch. This handy little item keeps the sled from jamming into your tires or track and just gumming up the whole works and damaging gear.
Even on the short trips to the ice shanties at the smelt fishing camps I use our sled. I have found it really convenient to load the sled the night before, lift the whole thing into the truck or SUV and just pull it out when we get to the shacks and go. No messing with gear and shuffling armloads of gear around.  For the light trips or smaller vehicles there are shorter 42" sleds that handle more easily.
This year there has actually been discussion on bringing both to the ice. One for food, auger, shelter and stove and one to run flags with that has bait, traps and rods. Inevitably when running to flags with a sled and bait bucket water sloshes out, the second sled could solve the problem.

I really love the Jet sled and it has become an essential piece of winter fishing gear for The Fishin' Hole.

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